System and method for dynamic schedule aggregation

Abstract

A scheduling system and method are provided. The system and method provide a mechanism for a customer to schedule appointments directly with healthcare providers which is not presently possible since each healthcare provider may use a different practice management system that has different formats and protocols.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A healthcare scheduling system, comprising:
 a computer system; 
 a plurality of schedulers external to the computer system and connected to the computer system by a computer network; 
 a scheduling interface that is part of the computer system and exchanges a plurality of pieces of data from the plurality of schedulers wherein each scheduler has its own application programming interface and data format for scheduling data; 
 a scheduling system that is part of the computer system and schedules an appointment with a particular one of the plurality of schedulers, the scheduling system having a plurality of scheduling adapters wherein each scheduling adapter interfaces with a particular scheduler using the application programming interface and data format of the particular scheduler and a graph database having a set of rules wherein each rule defines a scheduling process for a particular scheduler; 
 wherein the scheduling system receives scheduling data from each of the plurality of scheduler using the scheduler interface and selects a particular scheduling adapter and a particular rule for each particular scheduler; 
 wherein the scheduling system, using the selected particular scheduling adapter and the particular rule, retrieves open slots for the appointment from the plurality of schedulers, matches a set of schedule preferences from the appointment against the retrieved open slots from the plurality of schedulers to generate at least one matching open slot and generates an appointment request for the appointment for the matching open slot, converts the appointment request into a request for the particular one of the plurality of schedulers, the request conforming to the application programming interface and data format of the particular one of the schedulers; and 
 wherein the scheduling system displays the appointments from the plurality of schedulers and allows a user to select an appointment that generates the appointment request. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1  further comprising a computing device that couples to and interacts with the scheduling system to schedule an appointment using the scheduling system. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 2 , wherein the scheduler system receives an appointment request from the computing device for an appointment for a particular provider that uses a particular scheduler and executes a workflow to schedule the appointment for the particular provider that uses the particular scheduler. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 3 , wherein the scheduler system locates a rule set for scheduling the particular provider that uses the particular scheduler and uses the located rule set to schedule the appointment for the particular provider that uses the particular scheduler. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 4 , wherein the scheduler system generates a workflow based on the rule set for scheduling an appointment for the particular provider that uses the particular scheduler. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 5 , wherein the rule set is modeled using a graph. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 6 , wherein the graph is a directed acyclic graph. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 7 , wherein each node of the directed acyclic graph is a workflow object. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the appointment request is one of a request to modify an existing appointment, a request to make a new appointment and a request to cancel an existing appointment. 
     
     
       10. A healthcare method for scheduling an appointment using a computer system, the method comprising:
 exchanging, using a scheduling interface that is part of the computer system, a plurality of pieces of data from a plurality of schedulers wherein each scheduler has its own application programming interface and data format for scheduling data; 
 scheduling, using a scheduling system that is part of the computer system, the scheduling system having a plurality of scheduling adapters wherein each scheduling adapter interfaces with a particular scheduler using the application programming interface and data format of the particular scheduler and a graph database having a set of rules wherein each rule defines a scheduling process for a particular scheduler, an appointment with a particular one of the schedulers; 
 receiving scheduling data from each of the plurality of scheduler using the scheduler interface; 
 selecting a particular scheduling adapter and a particular rule for each particular scheduler; 
 retrieving open slots for the appointment from the plurality of schedulers; 
 matching a set of schedule preferences from the appointment against the retrieved open slots from the plurality of schedulers to generate at least one matching open slot; 
 displaying the appointments from the plurality of schedulers; 
 selecting, by a user, an appointment that generates an appointment request; 
 generating, by the scheduling system, an appointment request for the appointment for the matching open slot; and 
 converting the appointment request into a request for the particular one of the plurality of schedulers, the request conforming to the application programming interface and data format of the particular one of the schedulers. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10  further comprising receiving, for a computing device of a user, an appointment request for an appointment for a particular provider that uses a particular scheduler and executing a workflow to schedule the appointment for the particular provider that uses the particular scheduler. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11  further comprising locating a rule set for scheduling the particular provider that uses the particular scheduler and using the located rule set to schedule the appointment for the particular provider that uses the particular scheduler. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12  further comprising generating a workflow based on the rule set for scheduling an appointment for the particular provider that uses the particular scheduler. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the rule set is modeled using a graph. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the graph is a directed acyclic graph. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein each node of the directed acyclic graph is a workflow object. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the appointment request is one of a request to modify an existing appointment, a request to make a new appointment and a request to cancel an existing appointment.